What to Do During a Weekend Break in York

Living in the United Kingdom is tough. The temptation to travel abroad can be all too much at times and this is a real shame.

There’s so much to see, do and eat within the country’s borders… heck, you could spend a lifetime exploring England alone.

This guide will cover what you can do during a two day break to the picturesque city of York, in England’s north.

It’s a place that’s filled with plenty of history, good food and fun activities to get yourself into, making it the perfect city break from London and the other bigger cities of the UK.

Doing it right – How to Have a Successful York Weekend Break

Part of the city with York Minster in the background.

What to Do in York

Let’s start with a few things you can get up to during your time in the city. Fun fact – I’d planned to do almost all of these and encountered barriers at every turn. Missing the start of a ghost tour, pubs being too full (travesty), the River Ouse flooding.

I still had a marvellous time in York, which is a real testament to the city.

TIP: Consider grabbing a York pass, which will give you free entry to more than 30 attractions. Depending on what activities you plan on doing, this could save you a heck-tonne of cash. Passes are available for one, to three days.

The Minster. If you peer closely, you can see some of the grotesques.

Visit the York Minster…

The Minster may be one of the most beautiful buildings in all of England, or at least I felt that way when I saw it.

It’s equally as interesting to view inside, as out. The outside is dotted with figures known as “grotesques” rather than gargoyles. So, rather than gremlin type creatures, you’ll see figures depicting a blind beggar, someone with leprosy and so on.

If you like stained glass windows, you wont be disappointed by the inside, which contains over 100 windows featuring historic images. Some of the more famous are the Pilgrimage Window and beautiful Great Rose Window.

Also, here I was thinking that a cathedral and minster were essentially the same thing. According to the internet, whose information should never be taken at face value, this is simply not the case. Minster is apparently a honorific title attributed to churches from the Anglo-saxon period.

Regardless, the York Minster dominates the cityscape and is a gorgeous piece of architecture. Be sure to check it out.

…And watch (or rather, listen to) the choir sing

Whilst you’re there, do your darnedest to witness the York Minster Choir sing. They have a history which dates back an incomprehensible amount of time and are said to be very, very good.

The Choir normally performs on Sundays at 10:00am, 11:30am and 4:00pm; on Tuesdays to Saturdays daily at 5:15pm. I spent a Tuesday in the city and tried to catch them, but typically they’d sung the day before and were taking a special break that day.

So, I had to sit through mass instead, which brought back traumatic memories from 13 years of Catholic schooling that I’ve spent my entire adult life trying to repress.

Walking the wall one fine, winter’s day.

Walk the wall

You can see the Roman influence across the UK, particularly in the presence of city walls, a form of defence from times gone past. Some are merely crumbling versions of their former selves, but York has one of the most intact walls within the country.

3.4 kilometres of wall remains and they’re now considered a historic site.

Yet, you can still walk them – if anything, you should as you’ll be rewarded with beautiful views of the city, for free. More information can be found here.

Go on a ghost tour

A medieval town like York would certainly have some disgruntled spirits – in fact, the place is inundated with ghosts and is considered to be the most haunted city in England. Places of supernatural interest include the Minster, the Museum and the Brewery, among many others.

There are plenty of ghost tours on offer, which will take you around the city to learn of its unsettling history. Alternatively, you can attempt to go ghost watching via a comedy Ghost bus!

I don’t have a single photo of a pub in York, which seems so wrong.

Grab a pint or meal in the House of the Trembling Madness

York has its share of historic pubs and one of the best known (and cutest – I have an interminable weakness for British pubs) is The House of Trembling Madness (or Delirium Tremens). People have been drinking on this site since 1180AD. That’s a mighty long time.

Grab a meal, grab a pint, but make sure you head there early before the after-work crowd descend upon it.

Sniff the flowers at the Museum Gardens after visiting the York Museum

After exploring the York Museum and trying to not bump into any (un)friendly ghosts, take a stroll around the adjoining gardens, set within the Medieval ruins of St. Mary’s Abbey.

If you time it right, i.e. go during the shoulder seasons and particularly spring, I can only imagine you will be delighted. Plus, there’ll be birds everywhere!

Take a day trip to the Yorkshire Dales or Moors

I can’t really blame you if you head to York only to leave immediately to explore the surrounding countryside, such as the Yorkshire Dales. Think stone built villages, rolling greens – basically England as you’ve always imagined it.

I also highly encourage making a trip to the Yorkshire Moors, which was actually the first part of England I ever stepped foot on! Well, if you don’t count Manchester Airport.

I actually read Wuthering Heights in the moors itself and man, was it a trippy experience.

The River Ouse, whilst flooding.

Cruise the River Ouse

Firstly, I love how the above heading rhymes.

Secondly, you can’t go wrong with seeing a city from water. Or boats in general. A river cruise down the Ouse (I had to again, I’m not sorry) will provide you of a unique perspective of the city of York.

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LC can often be found nursing a cup of green tea, with her head in a book. She is a writer, video editor and professional cheese eater. Her life's aspiration is to one day live on a farm in Tasmania with 11 dogs, a Shetland pony and several pygmy goats.

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I totally know the feeling. We recently did a weekend away in Somerset, looking forward to some quality hikes and walks through the countryside. We were met with driving rain and 50mph wind. We made the best of it and still had fun. Sometimes, things don’t work out like you planned, but it is okay.

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I loved York! The cathedral is amazing. And one of my favorite museums in the whole world is located in York – the York Castle Museum (which oddly has nothing to do with castles). I would love to go back.

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Love British history, so I’ve had the vague idea of going to York some day for a while. Now I want to go sooner =-). Looks like a neat place, though I think I prefer England in the summer LOL. We are getting too used to being warm here in Sicily!

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I find summer and winter so hit and miss – you can have crappy weather or no summer at all and then the most glorious winter days! Definitely recommend York, it’s one of my favourite cities in England for sure.

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You’re absolutely right that if you live in the UK you often overlook how amazing it can be to travel around. After living abroad for 4 years we travelled and camped around the UK last summer and absolutely loved it. It’s almost 20 years since I’ve been to York, yikes! But would love to go back and your post have loads of ideas of what to do, love it!

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Hello, my name is LC. I’m passionate about the environment, green tea, brunch (the most beloved meal of any urban Australian), travel, books and photography. This is where I write about all things sustainable, backyard travel in Oz and odd things to do and eat around the world. Oh and I’m crazy about birds.